Spare Keys
by katnissdoesnotfollowback
Summary: Since when did Gale have a coffee table? Katniss crashes drunk in her friend's apartment.
1. Spare Keys

Swaying on her feet, Katniss braces herself against the door frame. She didn't think she'd drunk _that _much. With some choice swear words directed at Madge for ordering that last round of shots, she reaches up and gropes above the door. A small sound of triumph escapes her mouth when her fingers close around the spare key. Gale will give her shit in the morning for walking here alone from Sae's, but she doesn't care right now. After a night of drinking, she couldn't afford taxi fare on top of everything. Luckily, Gale's apartment was only a block away. So she got Madge into a taxi and started walking. By the time she got there, the alcohol had hit her system. Hard. It takes a few tries to get the key in the door.

Shutting and bolting the door behind her, Katniss makes her way towards the couch, peeling off her jacket and tossing it in the direction of the coat rack. Her bra follows. Really, she's surprised she can get it off without removing her shirt or getting tangled in this state.

"Fuck!" she says, pain shooting up her shin. When did Gale get a coffee table? Too tired to care, she collapses onto the couch and barely has time to remove her boots before her eyelids droop and she slips into sleep. She hopes Gale has coffee and plenty of bread for toast.

The luscious smells of coffee and fresh bread invade Katniss's nose, slowly pulling her from sleep. Her head throbs a little and her mouth feels disgusting, but all things considered, not a terrible hangover. When her eyes finally focus on her surroundings, she scrunches her nose in confusion. She doesn't recognize that green recliner. And since when did Gale framed art on his walls? Real art, not some movie or band poster or something. And why are there moving boxes in that corner?

"Good morning," an unfamiliar voice says from the direction of the kitchen. Katniss sits bolt upright, grasping her head as the throbbing intensifies. When she finds the courage to seek out the source of the voice, Katniss gasps. She has no idea who this guy, hands in his jean's pockets, lounging in the door to the kitchen is. Medium height, stocky build, with wavy blond hair falling across his forehead and clear blue eyes, the color of the water in her lake back home on a cloudless summer day. He's kinda cute.

"You're not Gale. What are you doing in his apartment?"

The stranger raises one eyebrow at her accusatory tone and smiles at her. "No I'm Peeta, and if you mean Gale Hawthorne, he's actually three doors that way," he points at the wall behind her.

Mortified, Katniss reaches for her boots and starts to tug them on desperately. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Your spare key was in the same place he keeps his. I thought it was his door. I _knew_ he didn't have a coffee table."

"It's not a big deal, really," he says. "I mean it's not every day I wake up to find a beautiful stranger crashed on my couch." Then he smiles at her, a smile somewhere between sweet and shy. Katniss blushes furiously at his compliment and moves faster to lace her boots back up. She has to get out of here, now. Why didn't she wear heels like Madge suggested? So much easier to get on in a rush. Oh right, because she hates wearing heels and she had no plans to be making a quick get away this morning.

"I, uh, I don't usually do this."

"What, break into a total stranger's place and sleep on his couch?"

"No," Katniss huffs and throws a glare his way. He's still smiling. "Get drunk enough to not realize when it isn't my friend's apartment I'm walking into."

"Ah, well, can I at least offer breakfast before you go? Coffee?"

Katniss shakes her head, realizing suddenly how dangerous this could have been for her. Peeta seems harmless, but who could really tell from three minutes?

Once her boots are laced, she retrieves her jacket.

"No, thank you, I just need to go." Peeta's at the door, unlocking it before she gets to it.

"At least tell me your name. I think that's a fair exchange, don't you?"

She scowls at him, debating the safety of giving him her real name. Living three doors down from Gale, it's likely he'll see her again and learn her name anyway, so lying won't do much good. "Katniss," she tells him.

"Katniss," he says her name like he's tasting it and a shiver runs down her spine. "Well, it was nice meeting you." With that, he opens the door for her and gives her one last smile. For a moment, she can't move, transfixed by the dimple that appears in his left cheek. Men shouldn't have dimples, she decides and leaves without saying another word.

She's two blocks away when she realizes she's not wearing her bra.


	2. Cheesy Bread

By the time she gets into her car, Katniss's thoughts are in a jumble.

She's not going, she decides. The rational part of her brain knows that she's being ridiculous. It's just a bra. Not even an attractive one at that. For seven days now she's agonized over whether or not she should go back, knock on Peeta's door, and demand the return of her bra.

But it's _not_ just _any_ bra. It's her favorite, wireless, seamless, most comfortable beige bra. The one that's so worn, bits of elastic are starting to sneak through the fabric but she can't bring herself to replace it because what are the chances of her finding another one like that? She _needs_ that bra back. Why couldn't she have been wearing her lacy black bra?

No that would have been even worse.

She groans and lays her head down on the steering wheel, letting the vibrations of the idling car soothe her.

_Gale [9:08pm]: Catnip, where are you?_

For the first day or two after she'd crashed on Peeta's couch, she'd been expecting a phone call from Gale demanding an explanation. She was sure Peeta would mention the incident to his neighbor, or hand the cursed bra over to Gale, and God _that _would be truly embarrassing.

But he hadn't.

And now she's sitting in her apartment parking lot, debating if she should risk going to Gale's today, risk seeing Peeta again. Could she maybe drop by Peeta's first without anyone noticing? She's not sure she can take anymore embarrassment over this whole thing.

On the other hand…cute guy with dimples.

Cute guy with dimples who's seen her ugly comfortable bra.

"Gah!" she finally shouts and relents, putting the car in reverse. "I refuse to be cowed by one lousy left cheek dimple!"

_Katniss [9:12pm]: On my way._

Honestly, there's no reason for her to be so worked up over this. It's a Saturday night. He's probably not even home. She's just talked herself down when she reaches Gale's parking lot. Taking a deep breath, Katniss climbs the stairs to the third floor. She'll just stop by Peeta's, see if he's home, and then go on to Gale's.

But her plan goes awry when the door to Gale's apartment flies open. Thom and Delly come crashing out, giggling. His hand slides around her and down to squeeze her ass. Katniss rolls her eyes. Those two need to just get married already.

"Hey!" Thom shouts when he spots her. "Katniss is here!"

"Hey Thom, Delly."

"We're on our way to make a beer run, you want anything special?" Thom winks at her, then recoils as Gale shows up to punch him on the arm.

"Stop flirting and go get the booze already. Catnip drinks Bud, too." Gale turns and wraps her in a hug. She opens her mouth to say she prefers Sam Adams, but Gale's crushing her ribs and Thom's already leaving, Delly in tow. "And try not to take too long this time! No one wants to wait an hour while you two screw in the car!"

"We'll make it a quickie, then," Thom jokes.

Delly's laugh floats back to them on the cool autumn air, and Gale finally releases her. "Alright, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing," Katniss squeaks. Her best friend eyes her suspiciously.

"Not 'nothing.' You've been avoiding me all week and I can't figure out why." She scowls at him, and he finally relents with a laugh. "Alright, alright, you wouldn't be here if it was something I did, so tell me when you're ready."

The apartment is already pretty full with Gale's numerous friends. She hangs her jacket on the coat rack by the door, and when Gale is begged to get back to playing some video game, Katniss makes her way to the kitchen, hoping there's food left. She helps herself to a plate full of pizza and cheesy bread, grabs the last Sam Adams from the fridge, wondering if there's anyone here besides Thom, Delly, and Gale that she actually gets along with. Firing off a text to Madge, begging her to come, Katniss doesn't see the guy enter the kitchen.

"Well hello again."

Jumping at the sound of the voice that's been bouncing around her brain for the better part of the week, Katniss almost drops her phone in the sink.

No. Not him. Why did Gale have to invite him?

"Oh hey, I, uh," she takes a moment to compose herself, repeating her new mantra in her head. One lousy left cheek dimple. Then she glares up at him. "You have something of mine."

Peeta gives her a wicked smile. "You left it on the floor. Must not have been that important."

"I want it back," she holds her hand out to him, keeping the glare firmly on her face.

He looks down at his jeans, patting his pockets, and she can't help but follow the motion with her eyes. Good lord those jeans fit. Was he this hot a week ago? _Focus, Everdeen, focus._

She meets his playful gaze once more.

"I don't exactly have it with me this second."

"Then go get it," she demands. If possible, his smile only gets wider as he takes two steps towards her.

"I could. I mean, I definitely would. Don't want you to be without your valuable property, after all. But…" he pauses, picking up a plate and filling it with food. "I'd have to come up with an excuse to go back to my place. I don't own any video games or movies that Gale doesn't already have. I brought food when I came in the first place," at this he gestures to the cheesy bread on her plate. "So unless you've got a good excuse for me to leave…" His words hang in the air.

Anger boils inside of her. "I just knew you'd turn out to be a jerk."

"Nah," Peeta tells her, "Just pointing out the obvious. I'm guessing you don't want Gale to know about what happened, otherwise, you would have told him already. Might be kind of awkward telling your boyfriend you drunk crashed on his new neighbor's couch last week and left your bra behind. Especially after he's invited said neighbor into his home."

Her scowl only deepens. "Gale's _not _my boyfriend. He's just… slightly overprotective. I don't need a lecture from him."

Peeta's eyebrows raise at this. "Then I'll tell you what. At the end of the night, we can leave separately. You can swing by my place, get your things, and be on your way. No one has to know." And there's that stupid dimple. Katniss feels her body relax against her will. He's actually covering for her. Maybe not a jerk after all.

"Okay," she agrees.

"Okay," he repeats, then gestures back towards the door. "Until then, can I maybe get to know you better?"

At this, Katniss starts to put her walls back up. Her shoulders and face tense and maybe he senses that.

"It's just, you spent the night at my place, left your lingerie behind to tease me, and didn't even stay for breakfast. I made cinnamon bread and everything. I'm feeling so used." He gives her his almost shy smile again and suddenly, Katniss is feeling bold instead of attacked.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so easy to get," she teases.

He chuckles, "Got me there, Katniss."

They find a relatively quiet corner of the apartment to talk and eat. She can't believe how easy it is to talk to Peeta. One minute she's answering banal questions like what her favorite color is, and before she knows it, they're sharing stories about their siblings and college roommates and their crappy first apartments after graduating. She tells him she really doesn't like parties, but comes because it's Gale and they've been friends since high school. Plus he'd never let her beg off every time, insisting that she needs to get out more. He tells her he prefers the quiet of the art gallery works at, but figures he can't make art if he doesn't experience life.

She also can't believe how amazing the cheesy bread he made tastes. After moaning her way through four slices, Katniss looks over to find Peeta staring at her with his mouth hanging open. He shakes himself and goes right back to talking, leaving her to wonder at his reaction.

At some point, Delly and Thom return with more beer. Peeta elbows his way through the crowd to make sure Katniss gets another Sam Adams, because she confesses that she can't stand the taste of Bud Lite and she has no idea why Gale believes she does. He tells her he actually knows Delly. They were neighbors and best friends growing up, and he met Gale through her and Thom.

Katniss finds herself laughing with him. A lot. Enough to attract a few questioning glances from Gale. Certainly more than she's laughed in a long time and in a way that only two other people have been able to make her laugh.

He's sharing a story about an April Fool's joke he and his middle brother played on their eldest brother when her phone goes off in her pocket. She checks the message a little reluctantly and scowls. "I'm sorry. It's my sister. 9-1-1. I have to go."

"Yeah," he agrees, standing and then reaching back down to help her up. "I hope everything's okay."

She tells Peeta it was nice talking to him, which feels inadequate after everything they covered tonight. With a wry smile, Peeta seconds the thought and lets her walk away. In her car, Katniss stares at the message from Prim.

_Little Duck [1:15am]: Aren't you out a little late? Thought the party scene wasn't your thing. He must be really hot to keep you there so long. ;-)_

Prim is frighteningly close to the truth. Katniss doesn't know how Peeta worked his way under her skin so quickly, and it scares her. Comfortable bra be damned, she can't afford to let him in her heart so easily.


End file.
